Haslett's Notes

Mark Haslett

The West Texas A&M football team’s NCAA playoff game at Chadron State will kick off at 1 p.m. Saturday. Chadron, Neb., is in the Mountain time zone, and the game was scheduled so that it would have a noon start locally.

The Buffaloes (9-2) are visiting the Eagles (9-2) in the first round of the Division II playoffs. Of the 24 teams that qualified, eight received a first-round bye, while 16 schools will compete to reach the round of 16 on Nov. 24.

WT finished as co-champions of the Lone Star Conference along with Midwestern State (9-1). Both teams went 7-1 in conference play. Midwestern State will travel to Indianapolis (9-2) at 11 a.m. Saturday in an NCAA playoff game.

Among Lone Star teams, only WT and Midwestern State qualified for the championship tournament, but one other school from the conference will take part in postseason play. Texas A&M-Kingsville (6-5) will face Emporia State (9-2) at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 25 in Topeka, Kan., in the fourth annual Kanza Bowl. The game features the best non-playoff teams from the Lone Star Conference and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Last year, WT defeated Central Missouri, 26-7, in the Kanza Bowl.